


On the Water and In

by EmpressM



Series: The Rowers [2]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Pining, Rowing, wet men (well just one)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:07:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29039130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmpressM/pseuds/EmpressM
Summary: There's something peaceful about arriving in the dark, parking next to Jaime's sleek sports car. They have a routine now, pushing off from the dock just as the sun rises. It's so quiet and the water is so still at this hour. Their oars slip into the bay, and you can hear the gentle ripples as they release in sync.Or: Jaime and Brienne go rowing
Relationships: Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth
Series: The Rowers [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2130369
Comments: 30
Kudos: 79





	On the Water and In

**Author's Note:**

> This is a companion piece of sorts to Jaime, Brienne and the Bachelor Party on Wheels. All that you need to know is that back in their university days, both of them rowed on the crew team, and they've run into each other again, some years later. You can read the author's note on that story for some crew terminology.
> 
> "Erg" is short for ergometer, a rowing machine used for land training. A lot of gyms have them alongside the treadmills and ellipticals for cardio fitness.

Jaime starts going to Brienne's gym. His new client is located close by, sort of, and it's convenient to stop by after work, he tells himself. They exchange cheerful waves, and sometimes, he'll even be able to snag a treadmill next to hers on a rainy day. He feels a little like he's taming a wild animal. No sudden moves, nothing alarming, just a gentle persistence of friendliness.

~~

When Jaime starts coming to her gym, Brienne is surprised at first, but as he starts companionably joining her indoor runs, she finds that she doesn't mind his company.

Eventually, they work their way up to spotting each other on the free weights, which is a huge admission of trust on her part. Lying on the weight bench is a very vulnerable position, and she's left other gyms where she didn't feel safe. Jaime has been nothing but reliable and respectful, and they lift close enough to the same weights that interleaving sets is easy. Obviously, they should spot each other.

It's almost a month before she finds herself sitting at an erg, and Jaime taking the one next to her. They warm up separately, getting themselves used to the range of motion. Then, as she fully extends her long body, Jaime matches her stroke, following her pace down the drive and slow up the slide. The flywheels roar as they pull, side by side, then purr as the chains roll back up, ready for another drive. Hard push, slow slide. It is the single most sensual experience she's had in her life to date, with this handsome man sweating beside her and watching and matching her body.

She has no idea what to do about it.

~~

The first time Jaime asks if she'd like to go rowing together, she says she wants to think about it. She doesn't row that often anymore - it's just not that convenient to get to the boathouse when she can go for a quick run out her front door - but coincidentally, she'd planned to go the next weekend to help the alumni club get some novices situated in their first time rowing an eight. She doesn't invite Jaime, but after she gets the novvies back to the dock, she looks into borrowing a pair or double the next time she comes out.

A double is a boat, also known as a shell, where two people each have two oars, one for each hand, for a form of rowing known as sculling. A pair is a shell that also holds two people, but for sweep rowing, where each person has one oar. Both she and Jaime are most accustomed to rowing sweep in eights, so it'd be nice to avoid learning sculling technique on their first outing, but a pair is known to be tricky.

Edric, the boathouse manager, is skeptical about a new duo (that is admittedly rusty) going out in a pair without either (1) overturning and ending up in the water, (2) killing each other before making it back to the dock, or (3) overturning and then killing each other. Rowing a pair with a new partner is known to make grown adults cry. With only one oar to a side and each controlled by a different person, you have to be perfectly in sync with your timing, and each rower has to apply exactly the right amount of pressure.

She thanks Edric for the advice and drives to work. While she showers in the office locker room, she gives it some thought. And it really does take some thought. Jaime recovered well from his hand injury, but he's mentioned that it's not as strong, and tires more easily. Which would be tough for sculling a double, where he'd have to control and power an entire oar with that hand. If they row a pair, one of them will have to switch sides, since they are both ports. 

Brienne decides that they will take the pair. She'll switch to starboard, which she hasn't done since some prank day in college, and let Jaime stay on the port side, since he'll have his hand to be thinking about too. Now she just has to accept his invitation.

~~

Jaime is thrilled that she agrees to go rowing. She is oddly reluctant, which makes him nervous. He hasn't been out on the water much since the accident. With his Olympic dreams in shambles, it was easier to say he was still rehabbing his hand, and work out in some other sport. But he remembers how glorious she looked, even as a freshman novvy, all muscle and stubbornness, and now having erg'd with her in the gym, he is determined to feel the power of their bodies rowing in sync.

He meets her at the boathouse mid-morning on a Saturday. He'd offered to pick her up, but she'd demurred, saying she needed to go straight to work. Her team is in crunch mode for the next two months, so she'll spend most of the weekend in the office. Edric is skeptical when they carry a pair and two oars to the dock, but they have reputations sound enough that they're allowed with minimal grumbling. 

Edric gestures at Brienne, "She's reliable, so nothing should happen to the equipment. And you're rich enough to buy a new boat, in case something does."

It's not the most reassuring, but they climb into their shell, tie into the rowing shoes, and push off towards the channel sheltered from the rest of the bay.

~~

They glide away a few feet, and Brienne uses her oar to nudge them a little further from the dock. They both paddle a tiny bit, not even real strokes, until they are far enough away to face reality. They are in a boat, just the two of them, with barely any experience in rowing a pair, with no coxswain to steer or even see where they're going. It'll be up to Brienne to look over her shoulder and check their bearings, while she's also getting her body used to rowing on the other side. It's not as bad as playing ping-pong left handed, she tells herself, like she'd done as a handicap when entertaining the littlest Stark kids.

"How's it going?" Jaime asks. It's a port-rigged stroke, so he's sitting in front of her, even though she's slightly bigger. If they survive this, they'll have to figure out what positions work the best, but right now it's time to figure out if they can actually go somewhere. 

"Let's do this. Half?"  
"Half," he agrees, and they gingerly start to move their oars at half-strength, half-slide. 

It's not terrible. She's following his stroke, which would be plenty distracting in its own right, seeing his muscles flex and bend right in front of her nose, if she weren't also terrified of this not working. Jaime could become frustrated with his hand or her, and never want to do this again. She's a little worried that he'll have some kind of ridiculous Lannister or masculine pride that means he's going to pull at full power while calling it half, just to show her up, but it turns out that either he's learned some graciousness since she last saw him on the water, or he's just as worried about overturning as she is.

They're not very smooth, which means the narrow boat rocks a bit, but Brienne feels confident enough to bring them up to three-quarters power. Now is the moment of truth. There's a reason why saccharine inspiration posters of "Teamwork" always use an image of a rowing crew. When the team is in sync, it truly is a miracle of movement, perfection together. When they're not, it's hell. Oars smacking each other and the water, balance gone, thrashing side to side. They traverse the channel at three-quarters doing pretty well, so eventually, she calls for full power.

They both go to full, and for a moment, they are flying, cutting through the water, bodies perfectly matched. Jaime shouts, life flowing fiercely.

~~

It doesn't last, of course. They get a little careless and lose the perfect synchrony, rocking the shell violently, but manage to stay upright and take a long moment to collect themselves and then paddle delicately until they regain their confidence. They don't say a word until they are near the dock, and Jaime nudges them until Brienne can grab the ledge. They un-velcro their feet from the shell and Jaime holds it stable while Brienne climbs out, and then she returns the favor. She feels silently exhilarated, but unable to express it, like it might burst the bubble. She looks at Jaime, gleaming like a god in the sunlight, and he seems uncharacteristically quiet, deep in thought. 

It was a remarkable first outing. First time as a team, first time in a pair, her first serious attempt at rowing starboard, plus his adjustment for his hand. It wasn't flawless, but it was . . . nice. It was nice, with a few moments of sheer bliss, and subsequent terror. And it wasn't enough of a disaster that she won't come back if he asks again.

Which he does.

~~ 

Rowing becomes a sort of weekly date, although she only whispers that part in her head. He always asks if she'd like to get coffee afterwards, and she never accepts. She's taken enough of his day already, she thinks, and she needs to get to work anyway. 

Brienne has come to treasure these mornings, and she's afraid to lose them, to tip their fragile balance, when these few hours on the water give her a new calmness. They balance her hectic, electronic-ridden days.

There's something peaceful about arriving in the dark, parking next to Jaime's sleek sports car. They have a routine now, pushing off from the dock just as the sun rises. It's so quiet and the water is so still at this hour. Their oars slip into the bay, and you can hear the gentle ripples as they release in sync. 

She feels suspended from time, far away from beeps, chimes, whooshes from emails coming or going. All she sees is Jaime, strong back and fine shoulders, and their boat gliding through the water, leaving a trail of her worries behind with each feathering of the oars.

~~

Sometimes when they're on the water, Jaime thinks back to a college pool party hosted by a teammate, Lewyn, whose family lived in a sprawling estate in the Red Keep district. They'd invited the entire crew team, men's and women's, for a back-to-school barbeque his senior year, when Brienne was just a freshman novice.

All the novvies were supposed to pass a swim test, but with half of them coming from a country-club and private-pool upbringing, the coaches usually didn't check all that carefully. Wordlessly, Jaime and his co-captain Addam handed off informal lifeguarding duties between them, keeping an eye on movement, or more crucially, lack of movement in the pool.

Then, in one of his most vivid memories, out of the corner of his eye, Jaime saw a powerful body arc through the air, and he turned to the pool to see almost almost nothing, barely a splash where someone had entered the water.

"How'd you learn to dive like that? You're a great swimmer!" called Addam, as a tall pale woman surfaced a few yards away.

"I grew up on an island. I could probably swim before I could walk," she replied. It was Brienne, who he'd seen shuffling in the boathouse with the other novvies, all broad shoulders and awkwardness, but in the sunlight, he could appreciate her eyes, in the water, he could see her grace.

Now a decade later, he appreciates her even more. 

She mentioned wrapping up a lot of work earlier this week, so maybe today will be a chance to talk beyond the few words they exchange as they negotiate movement of their gear.

~~

Jaime's feeling good, after enough repeat days on the water. He never cared before that he couldn't see the other rowers when he sat in the stroke seat. His job was to set the pace and the power, and everyone else's job was to follow. Now though, he thinks he'd prefer to sit in the bow, behind Brienne, where he'd have an up-close view of her shoulders and the long muscles of her arms stretching and tightening with each stroke, and —

"Three-quarters in two strokes," she says, right behind him.

He just manages not to startle, guiltily certain that she can tell what he's thinking. He brings up the power a little late, and Brienne's more powerful stroke turns them sharply to port. They both realize what's happening and try to compensate, but with both oars out of the water and their bodies unbalanced, the shell capsizes and they're in the water.

"Brienne! Brienne! Are you ok?" He's alarmed he can't see her.

"I'm here, Jaime!" she pops out of the water on the other side of the shell.

He exhales heavily. There's always an element of fear - that someone will panic and not be able to detach their feet from the rowing shoes mounted in the shell quickly enough and get trapped underwater.

They mop the water out of their eyes and turn to the business at hand: right-siding the boat and getting back in it. They're able to get the oars parallel to the shell, and turn it over, but there's definitely still water inside. 

"Ladies first," he says, with a grand gesture. She rolls her eyes at him. "Seriously, lower center of gravity, you're less likely to tip it."

With the length of her legs and the inch she has on him in height, it's arguable at best, but thankfully, she chooses not to debate. The first three attempts with him holding the shell, treading water, while Brienne tries to climb in are abject failures. It has nothing to do with how he notices her soaked, long sleeve t-shirt clinging to her muscled body, shadow of a sports bra beneath.

"We're not that far," she says, looking at the edge of the channel, after she falls back into the water another time. "Should we just tow ourselves to the shore?"

Jaime agrees. Fortunately, his hand hasn't cramped up, and they dog-paddle awkwardly, pulling the boat alongside them until Brienne first touches the rocky bottom with her feet, and Jaime rotates until he can too. It's a lot easier this way, standing and firmly holding the boat, trying not to focus on her long legs, encased in wet lycra, while she clambers in. The second part is harder, since Brienne has nothing to stabilize against, but she leans away from his side, and after a shaky moment where they almost flip again, he manages to flop inside too. 

~~ 

Brienne wrings out her t-shirt. She can't be entirely surprised that they flipped the pair, but it's still a bit of a shock to hit the water like that. Jaime reaches to adjust the oar in the oarlock, and she pauses to watch. He practically glows like a magazine ad for the outdoor life, jauntily getting splashed in the fresh air. Meanwhile, she's certain she looks like a bedraggled cat. The light breeze is starting to make her shiver, but before she can feel disgruntled, he turns over his shoulder to check on her again. His smile warms her entire body, and every grousing thought goes out of her brain. Actually, every single thought flies away, not just the grousing ones.

"Ready?" he says.

"Um," she manages. "Um, yes."

They turn the boat carefully, and row their way back to the dock, disembarking in puddles.

Now it's the walk of shame, soggily carrying the shell back into the boathouse while all the other (dry) rowers line their path and clap. Jaime inclines his head to their audience, as a king mockingly receiving his due, owning every bit of attention paid him. While Brienne would be mortified on a normal day, a bit of Jaime's luster must be protecting her somehow. She manages an acknowledging nod.

They slide the shell onto its rack, and Edric comes to inspect for damage. He sniffs critically and waves them off. "Stop dripping in my boathouse," as if the boats and oars aren't doing that anyway.

Brienne hustles Jaime out the door, grateful to be dismissed without a barrage of complaints. She wants to be well out of range if Edric's temper takes a turn.

Jaime is laughing, shaking his head like a wet dog, as they emerge into the parking lot, almost running to their cars. She's giddy, giggling a bit as the chill catches up to her, hands shaking as she unlocks the trunk of her car and digs around for the towels she always keeps there. She hands one to him as he searches out dry clothes in his car alongside hers. She throws on a thick hoodie over her damp sports bra, and turns to see that Jaime has stripped off his wet t-shirt, and is drying off, not very quickly. 

He raises his arms to rub his hair with the towel, and it looks artfully mussed, like a stylist just had her way with him. It's taking every ounce of Brienne's willpower to not openly admire his finely chiseled chest and shoulders. She knows his workouts from the gym, but he keeps his shirt on there and doesn't parade and preen. 

Wait. Is that what he's doing? Posing for her? Maybe taking longer than is strictly necessary to put on a dry shirt? 

She freezes and drops her head, thinking furiously. They had that amazing conversation months ago at Jon's bachelor party, and that was when she'd fallen for him - kind, caring, bitingly witty man. She'd chalked up their spark to a fluke, just the happy vibe of the evening. Is there more to it? Dare she hope?

Brienne takes a deep breath as Jaime takes two steps towards her, hoodie in hand. A drop of water falls from his hair and slides down his still bare chest. She forces her eyes up, hoping he hasn't noticed where she was looking, and he smirks. Oh, he noticed. He leans decoratively on her car.

She has no words. But she has eyes and she sees the cloud of uncertainty in his. This beautiful man doesn't know what she knows.

Brienne smiles at Jaime. "Coffee?"

He says yes.

**Author's Note:**

> Author's apology: I'm using "power" and "slide" a little interchangeably, even they are not, because it'd require more rowing explanation than I'm up for today.
> 
> Thank you to tall_wolf_of_tarth, virareve, and ilikeblue for reading early versions of this little piece and giving me suggestions and encouragement!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
